Let’s get right to it. Last week, I was humbled.
Picture this: I’m walking out of class on a Zoom call with my HBS professor and Alix Earle’s publicists (dream sentence), when I trip and faceplant directly into a coffee table. Somehow, I didn’t spill my coffee, shatter my glass cup, or drop my laptop. But I did bruise my shin, stab a straw into my cheek, and humiliate myself in front of everyone on Zoom and my HLS sectionmates walking behind me. A true two-for-one.
They say you’re only one cold call away from being humbled. Forget the cold call—I got humbled on the way out of the classroom.
Anyway. It’s a new week, and I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Alix Earle is officially coming to HBS, and I cannot wait to spend the day with her.
Now, here’s what I listened to while recovering (physically and emotionally):
1. Acquired: Indian Premier League Cricket
This is the story of the most valuable sport you’ve never watched.
Since launching in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has grown more than 20x in value and is now worth over $16 billion. The only sport with more valuable media rights? The NFL.
This episode makes a bold claim: in 20 years, cricket will be the most valuable sport in the world, and the IPL will be the reason why.
It’s a masterclass in turning tradition on its head. Cricket started as a slow, polite, British sport with matches that could last five days and end in a draw. The IPL made it loud, fast, and electrifying. Think three-hour games, city rivalries, and Bollywood.
But what makes this story so good is that it’s not just about cricket. It’s about capitalism, revenge, and the kind of generational vision you rarely see pulled off this flawlessly.
It all starts in the '90s with Lalit Modi—a Duke dropout from one of India’s wealthiest industrial families—who fell in love with American sports. Monday Night Football. March Madness. The business of broadcast. He took those insights back to India, where he partnered with Disney to help bring ESPN into the market and tried to get ahead of Rupert Murdoch, who was busy snapping up cheap cricket rights for News Corp’s new Indian channel, Star.
That move kicked off a years-long media tug-of-war, with Modi eventually getting forced out of his own joint venture. He lost everything, despite his family owning 50% of the company, and was left with one thing: a vendetta against Rupert Murdoch.
What follows is the ultimate revenge play.
Modi works his way into the BCCI (India’s national cricket board), convinces them they’re under-monetizing everything, and sets fire to the old pricing model. Sponsorships jumped from $100K a year to $105 million overnight. He forces Murdoch to re-bid for TV rights and orchestrates a rival bid just to shut him out. And then, the crown jewel: he builds a brand new cricket league from scratch. But this isn’t just any league. It’s the best-designed sports league in the world.
Modi and his partners at IMG borrowed the most powerful elements from the NFL, NBA, and Premier League—and pushed them even further. No debt. No team owns its stadium. Salary caps and player auctions enforce competitive parity. The structure is engineered to maximize two things: elite performance and unpredictability.
And then came the secret weapon: Bollywood. Halftime performances felt like movie premieres. Team owners included major Bollywood stars. The color, the music, the glam—it made cricket cool again. And it brought in a whole new audience, especially women and younger viewers who hadn’t traditionally been fans.
The result? The IPL dominates primetime. Kids watch it. Couples watch it. Brands throw money at it. Today, 93% of all sports viewership in India is cricket, and the IPL sits at the center of it. It’s not just a league; it’s a cultural juggernaut. A perfect blend of capitalism and religion.
There’s a lot more in this 4+ hour episode, so I highly recommend saving it for your flight to Europe this summer. It’s fascinating.
I know I know, another better-for-you soda brand. But Olipop’s story is too good not to share.
Long before Olipop, Ben Goodwin was deep in his own wellness journey—navigating a tough upbringing, confronting health challenges, and shifting to a vegetarian lifestyle after learning about factory farming. It wasn’t until he picked up the Clif Bar book while feeling stuck after college that he realized entrepreneurship could be mission-driven. Ben reflects, “It’s really difficult to feel truly free and alive if you are struggling with your health,” so he set out to create products at scale that could help others feel better, too.
His first swing at a functional soda was a brand called Obi. After four years in R&D and a few failed business partner relationships, he finally found the right fit: Dave, someone with deep beverage experience—and, as Ben puts it, “the same level of obsession and focus.” That’s when things finally started to click, and they officially launched. But when the company was acquired in 2016, things quickly unraveled. “I just set seven years of my life on fire,” says Ben.
The exit barely covered R&D, and they walked away with just enough to live on and to start again. Not a win, but not a waste either. The experience gave Ben proof the concept could work, and the clarity to trust his own instincts.
Enter: Olipop.
The inspo? A trip to Japan, where Ben started noticing fiber popping up in functional drinks. Back home, he got to work, formulating with a soda stream in a scrappy DIY setup.
Most Americans get about 15g of fiber per day, well below the recommended 28g. Olipop was built to help fill that gap with gut-healthy sodas that actually taste good.
As of 2024, Olipop is profitable and has crossed half a billion in sales. Ben declined to comment on what the future holds for Olipop, but it seems like he’s not ready to let go just yet…
3. On Purpose with Jay Shetty: Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco
What made this episode so special was how much Selena and Benny let us into their relationship. It was honest, sweet, and full of love. And of course, we love to see a long-distance success story.
They walk us through their origin story—a perfect example of the invisible string theory in action. The first time they met, Selena was 16 and Benny 21. Selena’s mom set up the meeting because she wanted to get Selena into music, but neither remembers it. A few years and a few run-ins later, they finally did a song together, started texting, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Funny enough, Benny originally thought Selena hated him. In reality, she was just protecting herself. She says she always gets nervous when recording around producers. But once she let her guard down, something shifted. She says she immediately felt safe with him, and that safety made all the difference.
The highlight for me? Just how supportive Benny is. He shared he literally wakes up and asks himself, “How can I make Selena’s day better?” I mean, come on. That’s adorable.
It gets better. He tells her every day how beautiful she is, how much he loves her, and how he doesn’t take anything for granted. He knows her strengths and weaknesses and makes sure she’s surrounded with the support she needs. His advice for guys? “Just listen. Girls will tell you everything they need.” Green flags everywhere.
The episode ends with them talking about making their new album together at home, and how it’s the most fun they’ve ever had.
More on Benny:
He’s an amazing chef
He’s afraid of flying (so much so that he drives to NYC and takes a boat to Europe …)
He doesn’t re-read interviews, check comments, or obsess over press. “Hating is free,” he says, and he’s not giving it his energy
Benny honestly seems like everything Selena deserves. I’m really rooting for them.
P.S. I linked the YouTube version above because this one’s a good one to watch.
4. The Mel Robbins Podcast: 4 Books That Will Change Your Life
I’ve been getting a lot of book recommendation requests lately, so when I saw this episode pop up, I hit play. Mel Robbins currently has the #1 best-selling book in the country (The Let Them Theory), so when she says a book might change your life… I’m listening.
She’s also coming to Boston on May 3rd—let me (no pun intended) know if you’ll be there! I’ll be the one taking notes for Substack, naturally.
Here are her four picks:
The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas (pro tip from Mel: listen to it on audio)
The Firm by John Grisham
I’ve already read The Alchemist and I’m mid-ACOTAR right now. But I just ordered The Book of Awakening and bumped The Firm to the top of my list. I can’t wait for summer—to finally swapping law school textbooks for reading for fun again (no highlighter required).
5. The Big Picture: ‘A Minecraft Movie’
Continuing my current obsession with The Ringer podcasts and my ongoing mission to become someone who understands movie references by way of The Big Picture.
This week’s episode dives into A Minecraft Movie, which somehow pulled in $301 million globally on opening weekend.
For those of you who don’t know what Minecraft is (same), it’s arguably the most successful video game of all time. The movie is an attempt to build a story around a game that famously has no story.
Sean and Amanda call it what it is: not a good movie, but an essential one. It marks the official return of movies made for kids. It likely won’t land on any ‘best movies of the year’ lists, but it’s still expected to cross a billion dollars, and that matters. The kids love it.
Also discussed:
Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is getting a surprise sequel… on Netflix. Cue the continued Netflix-ification of prestige directors
TV might be in a better creative place than film right now. With shows like Severance, White Lotus, The Studio, Adolescence, and The Pit, it’s been a big year for television
A thoughtful moment from Sean on how letting kids follow their passions can lead to big things—and how that mindset helped him find his dream job: watching movies for a living
Their current top 10 films of the year so far, including Black Bag, Misericordia, The Assessment, and One of Them Days (SZA’s film debut!)
I enjoyed this one. Still not quoting Tarantino at parties, but give me time. I’m almost there.
6. The Evolution of the Entrepreneur: Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd
Meghan Markle launched a new podcast last week (another one?) and I didn’t know what to expect—but I was curious enough to find out. I’m not a Meghan hater. If anything, I feel for her. It seems like she’s been navigating a tough chapter post-Suits, trying to figure out where she fits in the media/founder/royal-adjacent landscape.
Her first guest is Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of Bumble and a fellow SMU alum (pony up!). It felt like a surprising choice to lead with, until Meghan introduced her as “one of her closest friends.” That added some context, though I still found myself wondering what kind of show this is trying to be. The format appears to be conversations with her founder friends, which is a fun enough angle, but we’ll see what happens once she’s worked through the group chat.
There’s also the not-so-subtle subtext: Meghan recently launched her long-awaited lifestyle brand As Ever in early April. She shares that she was up all night thinking about packaging and product decisions—which, depending on your read, is either endearing founder energy or a little performative. At the time of writing, everything on the site is sold out. Either the demand is there, or they kept it super limited for the launch. Probably both.
Now, about the episode. Whitney walks us through her journey from co-founding Tinder to building Bumble, and shares that while she reached billionaire status, it came at a personal cost. She says she “robbed herself of herself,” and that while she wouldn’t take it back, she wouldn’t do it the same way again. There’s real wisdom in how she talks about time, stress, and what success really means.
One of the most grounded moments comes when Whitney gives Meghan advice: if you gave it your all, that’s enough. You have to detach from the outcome. They also touch on how becoming a parent forces you to prioritize what actually matters: saying no more often, creating boundaries, and bringing that clarity into how you build.
The biggest reveal? Whitney is back as CEO of Bumble. She stepped down in late 2023 to take a break, a “conscious uncoupling” if you will from the company. She explored her “professional single life,” but returned after the new CEO stepped away for personal reasons. This time, though, she’s coming back with a very different mindset.
Her new vision? Bumble 2014–2024 was about women making the first move. Bumble 2025 is about making the first move for yourself.
By the end, I found myself surprisingly drawn in. Whitney’s vulnerability gave the episode depth, and Meghan seemed relaxed and present. If this is the start of her founder arc, it seems to be a smart, steady one.
No matter the week, a good podcast always pulls me back in. Drop your thoughts (or your pod recs!) in the comments.
Until Wednesday,
Taylor